An attraction that has become popular at water theme parks throughout the country is the wave pool. Wave pools are typically man-made bodies of water wherein a wave generator is located at one end of the pool, and a simulated beach is located at the other end, wherein waves created by the wave generator travel across the pool and break onto the beach. In particular, attempts have been made to create spilling, breaking waves, using mechanical wave generators that are designed to push substantial amounts of water back and forth in the pool. This movement is typically created at the deep end of the pool and involves creating waves that travel toward the opposite shallower end where the waves eventually break. These generators are often driven by motors, such as those that are mechanically, pneumatically, or hydraulically operated.
One of the main shortcomings of conventional wave pool designs, however, is that the size of the waves is often a function of the distance that the waves have to travel through the pool, wherein each wave must travel a distance sufficient to allow the inclination of the pool floor to act upon the wave, to create spilling, curling or breaking wave formations therein. For this reason, in many cases, previous wave pool designs have been relatively large, i.e., the distance from one end of the pool (where the generator is located) to the opposite end (where the beach is located) was sufficient to allow the waves to not only form but also break along the beach. Accordingly, past wave pools required large footprints which increased the cost of construction both in terms of buying the land on which the wave pool is built and building the wave pool.
In response to these drawbacks, Applicants previously developed a new wave generating system that was the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,670, which is incorporated herein by reference. In that invention, the amount of throughput and usable space provided by the wave pool was increased, and various wave formations on which water skimming and surfing maneuvers could safely be performed were produced. In one aspect, the previous wave generator was adapted to travel along the surface of the body of water, from one end of the wave pool to the other, to create primary wave formations thereon. It also produced secondary waves that traveled outwardly from the wave generator from a relatively deep water environment to a relatively shallow water environment where the waves could eventually break along the shore.
The wave generator itself was configured to travel along the surface of the body of water and had wave forming surfaces on top that were adapted to act upon the water in a manner that caused the water to be lifted up and flow upward and laterally outward, thereby forming primary wave shapes thereon. Several suitable wave generator hull shapes that could be used in connection with the previous invention as well as this one were disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,105,527; 5,911,190; 5,860,766; 5,664,910, which are incorporated herein by reference. The wave generator was preferably buoyant so that it could float and be pulled by a cable or other means along the surface of the water. The wave generator was also preferably supported by an extension that extended up from a submerged trolley and track system extended on the pool floor, wherein the trolley was adapted to slide or roll on the track as it was being pushed or pulled through the water to create various wave forms and characteristics.
In this respect, the previous wave generator was able to create both primary and secondary waves that traveled outwardly toward opposite sides of the shore. The primary waves were created directly by the wave generator itself and in close proximity thereto, such as directly on or in front of the wave generator, and in some cases, laterally to the side, as the wave generator traveled through the water. The displacement of water created by the wave generator as it traveled through the water also helped to create a multiplicity of secondary waves that resulted from the movement of the wave generator through the water. Analogous to a boat or displacement hull moving through a body of water, the wave generator created a bow wave, a stern wave and a series of transverse waves. This multiplicity of secondary wave formations resulted from the displaced water being repositioned and spilled into the surrounding body of water to create a series of moving swells that eventually transformed into a train of waves that traveled toward the shoreline and broke upon the beach.
The primary waves created by the previous wave generator were capable of being generated in a relatively deep water environment unaffected by the depth of the pool floor, whereas, the secondary waves that were created behaved much like regular ocean waves, and therefore, were subject to the influences of the pool floor, including the depth, slope and topography thereof. As the secondary waves traveled toward the shoreline, how they formed, developed, and broke, were significantly affected by the character of the pool floor which determined the nature of the waves that eventually broke along the beach.
By virtue of creating waves in this manner, the previous invention was able to provide multiple wave effect zones within the wave pool, i.e., one participant could be riding on the primary wave generated by the wave generator in a relatively deep water environment while another participant could be riding on the secondary waves traveling and breaking toward the relatively shallow shore at the same time.
One of the main drawbacks of the previous design, however, was the amount of land that was required to build the wave pool due to the factors discussed above.
A second drawback was the increased hazard that existed as a result of having to move a large wave generator hull along the surface of a body of water through a relatively deep water environment, wherein participants in the water were then subject to being lost from sight such as if they fell under the device as the wave generator passed by.
A third drawback was the multiplicity of secondary waves that resulted in a boat wake wave-train formation. The first wave of this train of waves was usable. However, the subsequent waves in the train were inferior due to turbulence from the prior breaking wave. Additionally, to the extent not properly used, each subsequent wave in the train represented wasted energy that would be better focused in a single wave phenomenon.
What is needed, therefore, is an improved wave pool design which allows the wave pool to be made relatively small, and safe, and would allow the wave generator to travel along the surface to create a primary wave and a secondary solitary wave both suitable for surfing.